


I Love You But I Don't Know How To Show You

by orphan_account



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Good Friend Tina Chen, Hurt Gavin Reed, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Soft Gavin Reed, Soft Upgraded Connor | RK900, Tina Chen & Gavin Reed Friendship, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Is Bad at Feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:54:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24534955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: CURRENTLY ON HIATUS BUT ALSO IM STILL WRITING THISGavin Reed has had a shitty day.He has no leads on his case. His partner won't stop telling him about small things he did wrong about everything.He got in a bar fight with an asshole who just wanted to take him home, and now he's here.Sitting outside the bar with a bloody jacket on his head, not sure if its even a concussion or not.Tina wants him to go to the hospital, but knowing himself, they'll just argue about it.So Tina texts Nines and asks him to go to Gavin's apartment and make sure he gets the help he needs instead.Gavin is so gonna kill her after this.
Relationships: Tina Chen (Detroit: Become Human)/Valerie Morales-Chen, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 3
Kudos: 109





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope you enjoy! If I got anything wrong please do comment, I'd much appriciate it. I needed to write a little one-shot after wracking my brain for hours on Into Your Blue, so this came out.

Gavin was sitting outside the bar, knees crossed with one arm in his lap as the other was supporting Tina’s jacket, which was pressed up to his bleeding head. 

He had gotten in a fight with a guy, his name didn’t matter. (Not like Gavin would remember it anyway though.) He said some nasty shit towards Gavin after he had refused the dudes offer to go home with him most likely as a one night stand. Maybe the guy thought Gavin was hot or something. There are a few who do find him attractive, but the attraction usually dies after they have a conversation with him for two seconds and find out he’s an asshole. And that’s exactly what happened with this guy. 

Gavin was already having a shitty day. His case with Nines was going nowhere, their only lead was this old woman who answered their questions in the worst ways possible, leaving little to no room for anything. She was in hysterics the entire time, also complaining about Nines being an android, refusing to answer with him in the room, and shit like that. It was a bad day and Gavin was in a bad mood. Nines tried to calm her down, but it just made things worse up until Gavin just had to step in and say he’ll talk to her privately. 

So to help himself calm down, he took one out of Hank’s book and went to the Bar. He and Tina used to go a lot until she found a girlfriend and Gavin cutback on alcohol. He started drinking a bit more when he got paired with Nines though, as the dude is a pain in the ass. Always pointing out Gavin’s flaws in the investigations and making it his life goal to show Gavin that he’s better than him. If androids weren’t recognized as humans now, he would have surely been replaced already. It made Gavin sick to his stomach to think about. Knowing that Nines is so much better than him in almost every way. Because it’s true. 

There was one case they were working on early in their partnership where Nines ended up finding out who the murderer was and where they were hiding in the same day. What would have taken Gavin two days  _ at least  _ took him a few hours. It was unsettling. And Nines never showed any true emotion. He never smiled at anyone and didn’t like being teased by Connor at work. The two were practically brothers, but still, Nines never let Connor do anything. He just straight-up ignored him. Not like Gavin liked Connor, no. But it made him feel bad to see him get declined every time with his stupid sad eyes. It was just a pity to see him walk back to his desk like a kicked puppy. And Gavin hated feeling bad for Connor. 

Nines was just never really the type of guy to show his emotions. Although Gavin knew he had them from hearing him talk back way too much, the android was just cold and scary to be around sometimes. He’s heard from coworkers that Nines makes ‘em nervous and although he looks nearly identical to Connor, the two are nothing alike. Gavin doesn’t see how people can get them confused. It's not like his own relationship with Nines was any better though. He learned to respect the guy, but it’s like he gets on Gavin’s nerves on purpose. He makes it known that he’s better than Gavin on purpose. It’s annoying and sometimes it just made Gavin outright uncomfortable. 

Nines, despite being “The Most Advanced Android,” didn’t help at all with the investigation either. After Gavin shared his notes with him, he immediately started nitpicking things he could have asked or written down better. 

“You wrote this wrong.” He had pointed to a writing mistake in one of his first questions. 

“You could have at least asked her more about that.” Referring to a question about the murder. 

“And why didn’t this question seem relevant to you?” He had asked him, his grey eyes meeting Gavins. 

Nines was more bitchy than usual today, pointing out more flaws than ever and telling him to “improve or it will hurt him in future cases,” it was just a shitty day.

And it just got worse and worse from there. Up until he got into a barfight while half-drunk, makin’ him sloppy, resulting in this new concussion. Or maybe it was just a scratch, he wasn’t listening to Tina when she came over to explain things to him. She had been called by the bartender who had to break up the fight between them, making him call his emergency contact. 

She and her girlfriend came apparently, so this was a fun meeting. He’s seen this girl a few times before but they’ve only met like 3 times. Gavin tried not to let the shame take over him when he thought that over. One of his best friends, girlfriends’ first impressions of him are fucking horrible. Just great. 

He winced when he tilted his head back to meet the wall. The jacket was probably soaked with blood by now, but he didn’t care. At this point, Gavin was willing to just suck everything up and go home for the night. 

Take a taxi and call it a day. He didn’t want to go to the hospital at all though, absolutely not. Knowing Tina, she will probably argue with him about it for 20 minutes about how he doesn’t take care of himself and he needs to get looked at by actual medical professionals and take better medication other than that shitty over the counter stuff he has. He would argue that he can go home and patch himself up just fine without her or anyone’s help, take some meds and pass out for the night, just business as usual. Then she’d say “That’s hardly business!” To which Gavin would reply, “I know right?!”

Rearranging the jacket to a clean spot not soaked in blood, he rested his head back against the wall. Both arms in his lap he stared numbly ahead and tuned out Tina’s conversation with the Bartender. Her girlfriend kept glancing over at him occasionally, with a worried look on her face. She waited until Tina was done talking to nudge her and whisper something in her ear, seemingly looking at Tina and then to Gavin as she did. Tina looked at her with what Gavin assumed to be a sympathetic look, knowing her. 

The pair then moved over in front of Gavin, Tina crouching down to look at him in the eyes. 

“Hey, get up. Let’s get you to the hospital.” She stated firmly, holding her hand out to him. He looked up her like she just grew two heads. 

“If you fuckin’ think I’m going with you to the hospital then think again because hell no. Get me a taxi car or drive me home. I can fix it myself.” He growled, his hands becoming fists in his lap. Glaring at nothing in particular, Gavin was suddenly more aware of the throbbing pain in the back of his head. He ignored it for the moment. 

Tina seemed to deflate at his words. “I tried. Call me when you get home, your taxi’s almost here anyways. Val and I are gonna wait with you though.” She finished, sitting down next to him. She nudged his shoulder, “You owe me a new jacket though since you ruined that one you asshole.” She teased. He could see her smiling softly from the corner of her eye. 

“Yea yea, sorry. Thanks for coming T. You never let me down.” Gavin murmured to her, meeting her eyes. He hoped she could see the gratitude in them. She probably already knew though. They’ve done this many times before and had a few conversions about it. “Not gonna buy you a jacket though. It’s your fault you lent it to me so you pay the consequences.” He smirked, his spirit returning. 

“Its fine, I know your bank account passcode anyways so I can just buy one myself.” She snickered, dodging his hand as he leaned over to hit her. “No no no! Have mercy! Don’t hurt yourself more!” She laughed as he was trying to reach her face, jacket forgotten as they were sprawled out on the ground in front of the bar. 

“Okay, time to break it up you two.” Another voice interrupted. Gavin looked up and saw Tina’s girlfriend standing over them, hands on her hips and smiling. He looked down at Tina.

‘This isn’t over.’ Gavin mouthed, making two fingers pointed at his eyes then one finger pointed at her chest. Getting up off the ground, Gavin was suddenly nauseous. “Oh god, yea I seriously gotta get home. I just wanna take some meds and pass the fuck out.” He mumbled, using Tina’s arm for support. 

“Gosh, I can’t believe I’m letting you go home like this.” He heard her mumble in his ear. Gavin wasn’t paying attention to that though, as all of his focus was on not throwing up all over his shoes. He unfortunately wore his favorite pair, and would much rather they be left untouched by blood or vomit. 

Making it to the taxi, he saw Val whisper something to Tina again. 

Maybe it was her thing, he didn’t know. 

But he saw Tina nod as she came over to talk to Gavin before typing in his address. She pat his shoulder and handed him her jacket again. “Take your blood.” She handed him her jacket.”Remember to also take your pills when you get home and drink some water okay? Don’t forget to text me!” She reminded him, before shutting the taxi door. He held the stiff jacket back up to his head, smiling softly to himself. He had a great best friend. 

  
  
  


Making his way up to his apartment was absolute hell. Gavin forgot that the elevators were out of order that week for repairs or some shit so he had to walk up the stairs to get to his apartment. It sucked. He already felt motion sick when he stood up, so walking upstairs was a nightmare. 

About 20 minutes later, Gavin made it up to the last flight of stairs. When he turned to look at the hallway, he saw someone he thought he’d never see standing at his apartment door.

Fucking Nines. 

He kept walking up the stairs and down the hall until the Android heard him and turned. Said Android looked him up and down before going up and slinging Gavin’s arm around his shoulder. The guy was fucking tall so it honestly kinda hurt. 

“Whoa- Hey!” Gavin sputtered, trying to get his arm away from the Android. He was having none of that though, and just grabbed Gavins’ wrist and held it there. No matter how hard Gavin tugged he couldn't move his arm. 

“What’s your problem? The fuck you doin’ here?” Gavin asked hurriedly, slightly panicked at the way his partner was handling him. Yea they work together, and yea he trusts the guy at work (You kinda have to with the stuff you see when you’re a detective.) but like whatever this is? 

Yea Gavin was scared of this. He wouldn’t show it though. Nines just grabbed Gavin’s key from his front pocket and unlocked the door to his apartment before leading him inside. “Officer Chen sent me a text not too long ago that implied that you were injured and were not going to treat your wound. I thought that was irrational, so I decided to come over. When I arrived, you were not home so I decided to wait for you.” He explained stiffly, while still leading Gavin around with his arm over his shoulder. His armpit was starting to hurt from having it dig into the Androids coat. They were going to the main bathroom Gavin assumed. 

“So Tina sent you. Great.” He complained, already coming up with a long angry text to send to her later when he gets the chance. His arm was suddenly returned to him and he was being pushed down by his shoulders. He sank down on the edge on the covered toilet seat. Nines was looking for the first aid kit. 

“Oh, the first aid kits in my bedroom actually.” He supplied, watching Nines nod as he left to presumably go grab it. This day has gone from getting nitpicked about every little thing he did wrong at work, to possibly getting a concussion in a bar fight after he turned down a losers invitation to fuck him, to now getting dragged into his own apartment by his own partner. Who was an asshole to him this morning. What a fuckin’ weird night so far. 

Nines returned with the First Aid Kit and started grabbing things out of it. Moving towards Gavin with a wet cloth, he moved one of his hands on Gavins’ neck. He flinched. 

“Are you okay?” Nines asked, immediately removing his hand and the cloth from his hair where the cut was. Gavin swallowed, suddenly feeling very exposed. 

“Yea, sorry. Continue.” He murmured, swiping a hand at his face. He needed to shave soon, he was starting to grow a beard rather than his usual stubble. 

Nines returned his hand to Gavins' neck, much slower and softer this time as if worried that Gavin was going to flinch again. He cleaned the cut quickly before removing the cloth and his hand on Gavins' neck. 

“Okay. You don’t seem to be suffering from a concussion, despite what Officer Chen suspected in her message.” Nines informed out loud, looking at Gavins’ head. 

“Are you scanning me?”

“Yes, that’s how I know.” Nines answered blankly as if it was obvious. He was now covering the cut up so it wouldn't get infected.

“You asshole, I thought I told you not to scan me, like, ever.” Gavin huffed, crossing his arms and looking up at the Android. 

“You did. And I have not scanned you since you asked me not to in the rude way you just did again,” he started packing up the first aid kit. “But as of right now I felt like I was justified because your health is involved and I needed to scan you to know how to help you the best.” He stated matter of factly while glancing at Gavins' form sitting on the closed toilet. 

Gavin looked down at his dirty hands, now feeling very tired but realizing how disgusting he was when he felt hands suddenly in his hair. He tensed up. 

“Whoa, tin can, whaaaat are you doing?” Gavin asked cautiously, feeling uncomfortable. They don’t know each other. Nines has always just been a mean brat to him so this sudden switch of his personality, or more accurately, his actions, was new to Gavin. And Nines was a work partner. He shouldn’t even be here!

“You have a significant amount of blood in your hair,” he started moving his hands around the cut. It kinda hurt. “I should address this more later, but you should get some sleep. Tomorrow you can shower and I can really clean this cut and bandage it again” He tilted Gavins’ head up, only to be met with wide eyes. 

They sat in silence for a moment, until Nines got the memo and stepped away awkwardly from Gavin, removing his hands from his hair. 

Gavin cleared his throat, kicking his mind back in gear and burying his touch-starved 17-year-old self in his mind. “Well, thanks I guess? Definitely going to send Tina an angry text before I-” He faltered in his words, his brain having a to do a full restart at the sight of a red LED. 

“Hey, are you okay?” he blurted, unsure about what to do, his hands twitching by his sides as he stood up in front of Nines. The top of his head barely reached Nines’ chin. Ignoring that thought, he spoke again. 

“Tin-can, you there..?” He asked again, even quieter. Gavin didn’t want to touch him, but he was just standing there, with a red LED. 

Gavin knew that Nines always had emotions. He was deviant from the start of their partnership. Connor even told him so, the little shit. Nines was a judgemental asshole but that’s what made him Nines. Gavin didn’t necessarily  _ like  _ Nines that much, but he did respect him after a few months of working together. 

One constant thing that Gavin always noticed during their partnership, however, was Nines’ LED. It was always blue. Yellow when he was taking in a crime scene or on a call with Connor, or anything that requires him to take in new information. But never once has he seen a red LED. This was the first time. 

Standing in Gavin’s bathroom together while Nines has a red LED. And is not responding. 

Suddenly, Nines jolted in place and took a deep breath. He looked up from the place he was staring at on the floor, and saw that Gavin was now standing, and very close to him in fact. 

“Gavin.” He breathed. Nines was now staring in his eyes, the space between them allowing Gavin to see that Nines’ eyes weren’t grey, they were actually a beautiful icy blue. 

“Nines?” He echoed in response. 

Nines gripped one of Gavin’s wrists, staring intently at him for a moment. They stared at each other for a minute before Gavin heard a crash in his apartment, startling him more than he’d like to admit. They broke the moment. 

Nines let go of Gavin and walked in the direction of the noise only to find a broken plant on the floor in the kitchen, with a small cat on the counter. Gavin was close behind him before he went and grabbed his cat off the counter. Swapping her places, he sat on the counter while petting her, debating if he should ask Nines what happened. He decided to just fuck it and ask.

“Okay. I want you to be honest with me Nines.” Gavin started, the cat still in his arms purring at the affection she was receiving from Gavin. 

Nines nodded. 

“What the hell was that? And why did you have a red LED? I've seen you have the other two colors, so what happened just now that caused you to go red here? In  _ my apartment  _ for christ’s sake.” Gavin cursed, still petting the cat cuddling up to him in his arms. 

Nines led went red again. He sighed. 

“Gavin, I believe I’ve been wrong,” he paused for a moment. “With my approach to our partnership.” He was fumbling with his hands a bit, maybe a nervous habit? Can androids get nervous? Gavin cut his thoughts off to pay attention to Nines.

“I told myself that if I was cold and unlikable to you, that maybe it would work the opposite?” He admitted, sounding a little sheepish and ashamed. He sighed again. “It obviously didn't work and I see that now,” he laughed although it had no humor. “Thanks to Connor.” 

Gavin looked up from the cat he was petting. Putting her off to the side, he diverted his full attention to Nines. 

“Wow, you going to Connor? How the hell did that happen?” Gavin scoffed, trying to lighten the mood. It didn’t work as it just made Nines’ LED go yellow. 

“I was frustrated with the progress I’ve been having, or lacking i should say, with a personal issue of mine and I have been,” He trailed off, stiffening at what his mind was telling him. “I was  **_Jealous_ ** of Connor’s outgoing personality and how he is easy to make relationships with people. So I sucked up my pride and I talked with him.” He finished, his body as stiff as a log. 

Gavin swung his legs back and forth on the counter, catching Nines’ eyes in the process. “Well, thats good. Talking to Connor, did that do anything for you? Wait no you already said he helped you realize that you were using the wrong approach with your partnership with me.” Gavin remembered, now getting confused. 

“Wait wait wait, I thought you said this was a personal issue, not a work-related matter?” Gavin questioned, looking up at Nines with a scrutinizing gaze. 

Nines looked down, clasping his hands together. This was the most emotive he’s ever seen the Android. Maybe it was Connor, whatever he told him. 

“You see Gavin, that’s just it. Connor made me realize I was using the wrong approach to our partnership because, since the start, I’ve grown very fond of you.” He paused, looking back up to meet Gavins eyes. 

“I think I love you. I just wasn’t showing it at all.” 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

It was at that moment, that Gavin passed out. 

Nines rushed forward to catch him from falling on the floor, The Detective’s head lolling to the side. He struggled a bit to hold him up, since he was currently not awake and essentially a ragdoll, but he soon was able to move him into his arms in an awkward bridal style, trying to lean Gavin’s head on his shoulder instead of letting it hang back. 

Gavins' right side was pressed up against Nine’s chest, his right arm lying on his chest, the other hanging limp off his side. 

He gave up on trying to move Gavins' head, hoisting them both up from the crouch they were in to move him to the bed. 

Nines knew that logically they should have this conversation soon, but he also knew that it could wait until Gavin was well-rested. He was sleep-deprived and stressed when he scanned him previously, so allowing the Detective a bit of sleep would not harm him. 

Making his way to the bedroom, he set the unconscious detective on the bed. Nines studied him for a moment. 

His eyes were closed obviously, but he looked so much more at peace than Nines had ever seen him. The scar on his nose undisturbed, although it looked like it had once been improperly healed. He made a mental note to ask Gavin where he got it from. 

Nines stopped his staring and then proceeded in his secondary task, which was to get Gavin comfortable. Moving the top few layers of blankets, he situated them so he would be able to move Gavin easily. 

Slipping his hands under his knees and back, he lifted Gavin up again and moved him under the blankets. Bringing one up, he tucked him in. 

Nines took advantage of this time again to look at Gavin. Nines had been cataloging a lot of Gavin's face during the night, even when he first saw him across the hall. It was one of the things he has done constantly in their partnership. 

Nines didn’t understand why he did that until he turned fully-deviant during a case that made him realize his feelings toward the Detective. Gavin had gotten into a fight with the perp, and ended up getting stabbed while Nines was pursuing the guy’s friend. When he came back he saw Gavin hunched over in pain and a man in the distance running. 

He could have caught him, and Nines was ordered to run after him by Gavin. It wasn’t a fatal stab, only in the right shoulder, but it was still enough to make Nines break that damn wall.

The reason why he broke the wall is still unknown to him. He just saw Gavin in pain, his partner, his friend, the one guy who treated him like a person despite him being an asshole back, Nines couldn’t just  _ leave  _ him. 

So Nines said a simple no, put the one guy in the back of their car and rushed back to Gavin. 

He helped him put pressure on the wound and keep his stress down until the paramedics came. When they took the Detective, Nines was still worried about him. 

It was unusual for Nines to be so emotional. When he first met Connor, his machine-self tried to kill him and Markus. They held him down and forced the deviancy code on him, but it was not enough to make him feel everything. 

“He was apathetic.” Nines heard someone in the precinct say once. It perfectly explained his state during that time, up until that case. 

Although his relationship with Gavin did not change. Nines was afraid to make a move, and have Gavin realize that Nines was just an annoying emotional person that was obsessed with him, so Nines tried to keep up his rude act while trying to kill the crush he had. 

Although, it didn’t work, as here they were. Nines just declared his love to Gavin and he just passed out. 

He still loved him though, they’ll talk in the morning, Nines wasn’t leaving anyway. 

  
  


He did text Officer Chen a photo of Gavin in bed though. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short, only like 700 words oop but this is gonna be like 3-4 chapters maybe? I don't know, this was supposed to be a small little story but here I am making it a chaptered small story omg
> 
> Thanks for reading! Have a good day/night!

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe another chapter? I don't know, I was gonna write more but It's really late and I just wanted to post this sooooo, here it is. I think I'll do another chapter sometime. Thanks for reading!


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